Cheteshwar Pujara geared up for Ravichandran Ashwin challenge

Team India’s ace Test batsman Cheteshwar Pujara and the premier Test bowler Ravichandran Ashwin are all set to face each other. Many reading this would be perplexed thinking about how the two players will be tipping off against one another. Working together in tandem, they have played instrumental roles in taking the Indian team to the number one spot in the ICC Test Rankings.

During the 2016-17 season, the Indian side had a grand home season in the longest format of the game. While Cheteshwar Pujara was the most consistent batsman for the Indian side, Ravi Ashwin was arguably the most successful bowler. Pujara piled on heaps of runs and that included a marathon Test knock against Australia wherein he played a record number of deliveries in an innings.

On the other hand, the five wicket hauls came at will for Ravichandran Ashwin. Needless to say, they shaped the Indian win against quality oppositions like New Zealand, England, Bangladesh, and Australia. Now, the two players are set to be in opposite teams. The beauty of modern day cricket is such that teammates of one team become competitors in the other team.

When Worcestershire takes on Nottinghamshire on September 5, the two ace players will be against each other. Cheteshwar Pujara had signed up for Nottinghamshire during the month of April this year. Since he was not a part of the IPL roster, he chose to spend his time wisely playing the County Championships. On the other hand, R Ashwin signed up with Worcestershire recently after he was not picked in the Indian squad for the limited overs series in Sri Lanka.

Healthy exchange of words

Both players have been very successful for their County outfits thus far. Ashwin recently bagged a five wicket haul for Worcs and is in a red hot form. The excitement levels are quite high too. Pujara took to social media platform Twitter to express his excitement for the contest. He wrote, “Looking forward to seeing you @ashwinravi99 its been long since I faced you.”

This was in response to Ravichandran Ashwin’s tweet wherein he had written, “The ride to Trent Bridge begins, @cheteshwar1 look forward to catching up my friend. Big game against the Notts tom.”